Vice President inaugurates 2-day event of 12th Civil Services DayTranslating “legislative intent” into “programmatic content” is need of the hour: Vice President

The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that translating “legislative intent” into “programmatic content” and demonstrating to the common citizens what “Surajya” actually looks like in day to day administration, the civil services have an enormous opportunity today. He was delivering the inaugural address at the 2-day event of the 12th Civil Services Day, here today. The Vice President said that a clean, competent, people-friendly, proactive administrative leadership is the need of the hour. He further said that ‘Swarajya’ has to be meaningful for each Indian and, for this ‘Surajya’ is inevitable. There is a need for honest introspection into the effectiveness and efficiency of our administrative structures and processes, he added. He said that the focus has shifted to “implementation” and “innovation” and it is becoming increasingly clear that “business as usual” approach will not do. We must collectively transform India into a nation that we can all be proud of, he added.

The Vice President called on officers of Civil Services to reorient their approach to look upon themselves as catalysts of change, as facilitators of change, as inspirational leaders for an aspirational India. He further said that it is the collective responsibility of the executive, the legislature, the judiciary and the media to identify, combat and root out evils including casteism, communalism, corruption, inequality, discrimination and violence. We need to be sensitive to these unpleasant realities and try to alter them by being unbiased and evenhanded, he added.

Addressing the session, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space Dr Jitendra Singh said that the main objective of the Civil Services Day is to acknowledge and recognise the good work done by the civil servants. He added that this is a platform for civil servants to share their best experiences and reorient themselves to the emerging requirements of the New India. He added that during the last four years, the entire format of the Civil Services Day has changed and now the work done for implementation of priority programmes is rewarded under PM awards. This year four priority programmes have been chosen, he added. He said that 643 districts have participated for PM awards this year. He appreciated that 103 districts out of 115 aspirational districts have participated for these awards and 75 aspirational districts have participated under Innovation category.

The Minister also emphasised on the Government’s mantra of ‘minimum government, maximum governance’. He said that these days the expectation level for civil servants has risen. He also emphasised on the conducive working environment for civil servants and citizen participation. Speaking about the grievance redressal mechanism of the department, he said that now there is CPGRAMS Portal, dashboard and fixed timelines to redress the grievances of the citizens. He added that the grievances have increased about 8 fold since the year 2014. This is due to the prompt response and active mechanism for grievance redressal, he said. He also spoke about Pensions Portal, Anubhav and Jeevan Pramaan initiatives of the Department of Pensions & Pensioners’ Welfare.

On the occasion, the Vice President released a book titled “Emulating Excellence -Takeaways for Replication, Prime Minister’s Awards – Priority Programmes 2017 & 2018 contains 9 chapters on best practices for priority programmes in which PM Awards were given on CSD, 2017 and are being given on CSD, 2018.

Delivering the welcome address, the Secretary, DARPG, Shri K. V. Eapen said that 4 identified Priority Programmes will be given PM awards this year while two awards shall be given to organizations of Central/ State Government/Districts for innovations out of which one award will be given to an Aspirational District. The Aspirational Districts have been included in PM awards for the first time, he added. He also said that a new category of awards for Additional Secretary/Joint Secretary level officers and Director/ Deputy Secretary serving in Government of India has also been introduced this year to recognize their contribution towards bringing about transformational improvements in processes/systems. He added that highest number of applications have been received from districts for the PM awards this year. He informed that CSD2018 App has been created so that instant feedback can be given on the sessions. He also said that role of civil servants has become important since the challenges have become more complex and expectations have risen significantly.

A film on Journey to PM-Awards was also screened during the function.In this film complete selection process of PM awards including changes made in the process during 2016, 2017 and 2018 have been showcased.

The Cabinet Secretary, Shri P. K. Sinha, Additional Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Dr P. K. Mishra and senior officers from various ministries/departments were also present at the inaugural session.